In a communications network, it is desirable to provide conferencing service whereby a plurality of widely separated customers can engage a conference bridge to exchange information. The information to be exchanged could be in the form of voice messages over telephone lines coupled to an audio bridge or the customers could exchange data via a data bridge.
One such combined audio and data conference arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,189 of D. E. Herr et al., issued Oct. 2, 1984. While the Herr et al. patent discloses an arrangement that is wholly suitable for its intended purpose, it is essentially a dial-up system whereby an originator summons each of the other conferees by dialing their respective station addresses.
Other arrangements, known as meet-me conference systems, are utilized by having each conferee dial, at an agreed upon time, a code associated with the conference bridge. One such meet-me conference arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,144,518 issued to B. D. Lummis on Aug. 11, 1964. In the Lummis patent, each leg of a conference is assigned to a terminal on a connector switch. By dialing the directory number assigned to the conference bridge, each conferee can establish a voice connection to a corresponding leg of the bridge.
While the Lummis arrangement is suitable for its intended purpose, it has certain limitations. For example, since only one bridge is provided and should the conference bridge be out-of-service, those customers attempting to establish a conference at a prearranged time would be frustrated.